𝙰𝚄𝙶𝚄𝚂𝚃 𝟸𝟷𝚂𝚃

𝚂𝙰𝚃𝚄𝚁𝙳𝙰𝚈

Drifting on a memory Ain't no place I'd rather be than with you...

blasted through the speakers as Cherish was sitting down on a bench at the park her family reunion was currently being held at. Her black shades concealed her eyes from the sun that peeked through the trees.

It took a lot of convincing from her aunt Rissa just to show up. Cherish didn't deal with her family for numerous reasons. Her miserable aunt Jacklyn and her cousin Niah, who was Jacklyn's twenty-two-year-old daughter, were the main reason. Her other family members seemed happy to see her after so many years, so Cherish kept it cordial. She looked around the park as the older people in her family danced and grooved to the music. Kids ran freely while others ate and laughed. She was happy that Yazmine came with her. Of course, Marcus was there with Julissa as well.

"Girl, your cousin over there hating hard as fuck. Big glasses, roach with lashes looking ass." Yazmine frowned before chuckling.

"The lil bitch stay pressed. And she is not my cousin. You're my cousin. Marcus is my cousin. Her momma should've swallowed her bedbug looking ass. And my grandma, may she Rest In Peace, should've swallowed Jacklyn's chewed up laffy taffy, wrinkle face ass." Cherish rolled her eyes as Yazmine and Julissa busted out laughing.

"I'm weak! Not bedbug looking. Chewed up laffy taffy, wrinkle face." Yazmine continued laughing. "We play too much."

"Nah, y'all so funny. Where do y'all come up with this stuff." Julissa shook her head.

"Girl, I don't know. It literally just came to mind, looking at Jacklyn and her daughter." Cherish chuckled.

"Why do they hate you so much?" Julissa asked.

"I never liked Jacklyn, and she never liked me, which she then passed down her dislike for me to her daughter. She was that aunt who always sums up the 3 M's—Miserable, messy and mad. She's the oldest. My aunt Rissa is the middle child and my momma was the baby. Any time she came to Rissa's house, she always, and I mean always, had some smart shit to say. Whether it was about me or about my mother, never about Rakeem."

"She always seemed like she wanted to say something out of spite, but my aunt would stop her. I always let it slide, considering I was a child, but my brother was on her ass. So young, but my protector, no doubt. He didn't care that she was our aunt or that she was an adult. All it took was for him to see that her words upset me. By the time I was living in an apartment by college, I was happy to not see her again. Before and after that, I never went to any family functions. I used to beg my aunt to let me stay home. Since I was too young, I'll be at Yazmine's house until they returned. When I was older, I didn't need to ask for permission."

"Jacklyn always said that I thought I was too good for the family, just like my mom thought. It got worse once Marcus and I became the successful ones in the family. Even before Marcus, it was only me. When I say successful, I mean very much financially stable. They expected me to look out for them as if they ever did a thing for me or my brother. This family is so damn fake, that's why I stay away. If it wasn't for my aunt, well aunts—since my aunt Kenya; Yazmine's mom was willing to take us in as well, we would've been in the system. No one was willing to take us in, but when word got around about my success with my first store, suddenly family members were reaching out to me on Facebook." Cherish shook her head.

"My aunt—I owe her everything. She wouldn't accept the money that I tried to give her. I could slide when Christmas, birthdays, and Mother's Day came around. I even tried to give Marcus the money to open up his record label, but he's too proud, so he wouldn't take the money either. Jacklyn thought I was going to upgrade hers and her daughter's lifestyle, but I don't give not two fucks about her old ass or Niah lil hoe ass." Cherish shrugged.

"It's so crazy how family are these days. I wouldn't have given their ass a penny, either. She blows Marcus' phone up every month on the 18th like clockwork. For what reason? I'm not sure. I get that's his aunt, but it always seemed like more to the phone calls." Julissa mentioned.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was calling him for money." Cherish added.

"This is why I'm so happy we're related on your father's side, because your mother's side of the family is messier than a motherfucker. I been done chokeslam Jacklyn like I was fighting her in a WWE ring." Yazmine chimed in as they laughed.

Cherish could use all the laughs she was getting. It's been weeks since Rissa's guesthouse caught fire, a month since Priest hasn't been fucking with her. She just knew she was getting somewhere with him again on a family trip he, she and the kids took; breaking down that wall he put up until someone ruined it. She still didn't know who had sent Priest that picture of her and Von from the day she cut him off. He was already mad about Von trying to kill him, and the thought of Cherish still sleeping with him sent him into a fit of rage.

"You and Soul still not talking?" Julissa asked after seeing Cherish's mood changed. Julissa thought because she and Marcus worked things out, the same could be said for Cherish and Priest. I mean, it's Priest and Cherish. Cherish didn't want to talk about Priest because it made her way too emotional. Something was wrong with her. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what, but she hasn't been feeling 100% lately.

"He hates me. I'm regretting ever sleeping with Von. Truthfully, my sleeping with him had nothing to do with Priest. Von and I shared a bond. A connection. I haven't slept with him in years. I just feel like Priest and I can't get things right anymore. Still, I can't give up like the old me would have because I love that man. I could feel it in my heart that he will always be my one. My only. The man for me." Cherish sighed.

"Fav—"

"Your twenty-seventh birthday is in a few days. We definitely gotta turn up." Cherish cut Yazmine off because she didn't want to talk about it anymore. She could feel the tears burning her eyes, but the last thing she wanted was to cry at a family reunion.

Yazmine got the hint, so she didn't push. "Is it weird that Hendrix is dropping bands on me already? I haven't even fucked the man yet and showed up at my shop with Chanel, Gucci, Dior, and so many other shopping bags. Each bag had money in it. He said since I never charge him for doing his nieces' hair, it's the least he could do. Least? LEAST? That was over 40k worth of designer."

"It's the "yet" for me." Cherish smiled. She didn't know what Hendrix was doing to her cousin, but it seemed different from how she felt about Truth. Especially considering she just met Hendrix going on two months ago. Yazmine kept downplaying the feelings she was getting for Hendrix, but she couldn't fool Cherish. "It's not weird at all. Hell, Priest dropped a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in my lap and hadn't fucked. Even before that, he spoiled me. Why would something as simple as a man spoiling you be weird? He's getting inside your head, and it's scaring you."

"He's so attentive, too. I shouldn't be feeling like this, right? I love Omari." Yazmine said, but it sounded a lot like she was so unsure of the statement she just made.

"Just because you love Truth doesn't mean you can't have feelings for another man. If he's showing you more than how things were when you were with Truth, then maybe Hendrix is the one for you and Truth isn't. That's completely okay. Truth is the first man you fell in love with doesn't mean he will be the last." Julissa added.

"Preach!" Cherish nodded.

"Well, look who finally decided she wants to be a part of this family." Jacklyn interrupted their conversation. Cherish instantly frowned while taking her shades off and putting them in her bag. Rissa and Marcus both caught Jacklyn, who they've been trying to keep away from Cherish, sneak her way over there. There were secrets that both kept from Cherish and knew Jacklyn would reveal them just to hurt her. She has been through enough, and that's the last thing she needed to hear.

"Problem?" Cherish crossed her arms while looking at her.

"Actually, yes. That little high horse you're on isn't doing you any favors. You're just like your mother in more ways than one. Thinking she's too good for her family and now suddenly coming back around. Taking the easy way out—" Jacklyn started, but Rissa cut her off.

"Jackie, that's enough, and it's definitely not the time for this." Rissa huffed with a hint of anger. Rissa knew where the conversation was headed.

"Nah, let her talk, auntie. When have I ever taken the easy way out? All of you really be grasping at straws these days because y'all have nothing to say. And what the fuck did you say about my mother?!" Cherish frowned while standing up.

"Money changes people, and her lil smart mouth ass needs to hear the truth once and for all. Be thankful I spared her all these years only because of you, Riss and my nephew Marcus." Cherish knew that's what this was about: money. It's always about money.

Money never changed who Cherish was, but Jacklyn wanted that to be the truth so badly. Jacklyn felt the whole family should've been eating good with no struggles, especially with her niece being the richest one in the family. Jacklyn didn't like Cherish simply because she reminded Jacklyn of Monroe. Monroe was Cherish's mother and also who Honesti was named after. Well, Honesti's middle name. You'd think she wouldn't like Rakeem, since he looks like his mother and Cherish looks more like her father.

"It's always about money with you. I don't owe you shit. I worked my ass off ever since I was a teenager to get where I am today. Did you put in any work with me? No. Did you stay up late at night with me, helping while I finished orders for a customer? Sewing until my arms would cramp? No. Did you come to any of my grand openings? Support me in any kind of way? Hell the fuck no! So take your miserable ass back over there." Cherish told her.

"Don't be talking to my momma like that. I don't know what you thought this was." Niah chimed in. Cherish was happy that her daughters were with Priest because she just knew this day wouldn't end without her arguing or even fighting.

"Girl, I will slap your lil ass. It's best to not even try me." Cherish mugged her. There were a handful of times that she tried to get clout off of Cherish's name, letting social media know that Cherish is her cousin. The fact that Cherish didn't acknowledge her in the way she wanted made Niah hate her cousin even more. Truthfully, Jacklyn filled Niah's head with so much poison about Cherish that naturally she didn't like Cherish off bat.

"Slap who? Yeah, aight." Niah said, but was lowkey scared. Niah saw when Cherish beat the girl who tried to fight her over Priest. At the time, Niah was only 14. She always been hot in the ass, so she was on the block the fight went down on. Cherish took a step forward to show Niah she wasn't playing, which caused Niah to step back. Cherish shook her head with a chuckle because all Niah and Jacklyn did was talk shit.

"Jackie, please stop this nonsense." Rissa sighed. "I don't know what your problem is with Cherish, but it ends now."

"AS I WAS SAYING." Jacklyn spoke loudly, gaining the attention of family members.

"That's enough." Marcus tried to grab Jacklyn's arm, but she snatched it away.

"This family seems to think your lil ass belongs on a pedestal, and I'm here to tell you that you don't. I'm here to humble you. Your mother didn't die in a car crash with your father—Monroe took her own life. Little miss perfect wasn't so perfect and when things got too hard, she took the easy way out. Your father died from a drunk driver on his way to her." Jacklyn shrugged as Cherish's face fell.

"Lying on my momma is going to have you in an early grave. She died on side of my father in a car crash!" Cherish spoke through gritted teeth. She'd be damned if she allow any tears to come to her eyes in front of Jacklyn. She couldn't describe it, but she somehow felt what Jacklyn said was the truth.

"Come on, fav. Let's just go before I fuck this miserable bitch up." Yazmine tried to pull Cherish, but what Jacklyn said next made her freeze.

"No, your mother took her own life while you and your brother were home with her. Type of mother does that? I guess even her children weren't enough for her to live for." Jacklyn laughed. Like the jealousy she has towards her niece, Jacklyn was also jealous of Cherish's mother. They never got along, and that much was obvious.

That's when something broke through and Cherish started remembering...

"Mommy, you're not watching the movie." 6-year-old Cherish spoke. "Are you tired again? Do you want to sleep?" This day in particular, her mother was acting more differently. Kids pick up on things, so it wasn't the first time Cherish noticed her mother was down and not herself. Again, this day, little Cherish noticed that it was different this time. She was different.

"My sweet girl." Monroe smiled a little. "I'm sorry, sweetie. Let's finish this later, okay? I am a little tired." Monroe told her.

"Okay. I'm going to go see what Keem is doing. I love you, mommy. Get some sleep." Cherish kissed her cheek.

Stopping Cherish, her mother crouched down to her level. "No matter what, I want you to know I love you so much. You and your brother. Never ever forget these words. I am so sorry." Her mother looked at her sadly.

"I won't, mommy. Are you okay? Why are you sorry?"

"I will be okay, and it's just something mommies say to their kids." Monroe caressed Cherish's cheek. Cherish kissed the tip of her mother's nose, then ran out of the room.

The next morning, Cherish ran into her parents room. Her father wasn't home from work yet. She jumped up on the bed, but her mother hadn't moved except from Cherish jumping.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy, wake up. I'm hungry." Cherish shook her mother. "Hmm. Are you still sleepy? You're cold." Cherish pulled the comforter up over her mother, not seeing the pool of blood her mother laid in. "There. All warm."

No response.

"I'll ask Keem to make some cereal, mommy. I love you." Cherish whispered before kissing her mother's cold cheek. Her mother looked different. Cherish knew it, but was convinced her mother was asleep.

She ran out of her parents' room and into her brother's room. "Keem! Keem, get up!"

"What, Cherish?" Rakeem groaned sleepily.

"I'm hungry, and I can't reach the milk. Mommy is still sleeping because she's tired."

"Mom has been sleeping a lot." Rakeem mumbled before sitting up and looking at his little sister. "Okay, I'm up."

After making cereal for both him and Cherish, Rakeem went back to his room. It was normal for their mother to sleep in or just sleep a lot, hence Rakeem stating it. It had been hours and their mother still hadn't come to check on them as she normally would.

"Is your mother up? I tried calling." Their father asked.

"Nah, she's still asleep, I'm guessing. You know if she was awake, Cherish would be under her. I'll check once I finish this game. Are you on your way home, dad?"

"I'm stuck doing some overtime. I'll be home in a few hours. I love you, son."

"I love you too, dad—I love youuuuu, daddy!" Both Rakeem and Cherish spoke simultaneously.

"I love you too, my little ladybug."

Another ten minutes had gone by.

"That's not fair, Keem. You cheated." Cherish pouted with her bottom lip poked out as Rakeem laughed. She really thought she'll win against him while playing an Xbox she barely knew how to operate. "I don't like you anymore. You're a meanie."

"I didn't cheat. You just need more practice on how to play. I'm your big brother, so I'll still love you even when you don't like me." Their bond was unbreakable, even at a young age.

"I love you too, silly. Even when you're a meanie." She kissed his cheek as he smiled. "Let's go ask mommy if we can get ice cream when daddy comes home."

"By we, you mean you? You only want me to get some, so you could eat it as well." Rakeem chuckled.

"I don't get your point." She grabbed his hand and dragged him to their parents' bedroom.

Rakeem instantly knew something was wrong. His feet hit an empty bottle of pills, which confirmed his suspicion. "Mommy!" Cherish ran and grabbed her mother's hand. "Mommy, wake up. You're still sleeping, Mommy... Mommy!" Cherish kept calling out for her. "Keem, why won't mommy wake up?" Cherish looked at him.

"Come here." He had to pry Cherish away from their mother because she didn't want to leave her. "I'll wake mom up. Go wait in your room until I come get you. Okay?"

"But mommy..." Cherish said sadly while looking at their mother, then back at him.

"Please?" He stuck out his bottom lip as she giggled, nodded her head, then ran to her room.

Rakeem faced his mother, he knew exactly what was happening in front of him. Cherish may have thought their mother was sleeping, but he knew that wasn't the case. Her skin was pale. Her lips were blue. And her skin was cold. He picked up the empty bottle of pills before throwing it as tears filled his eyes. Bringing his head down, he put his ear close to his mother's mouth and didn't feel her breathing, even though he already knew she was dead. He grabbed her wrist to check for a pulse and didn't feel one. He moved the comforter and noticed both his mother's arms were filled with multiple deep cuts. The sheets were covered in dried up blood. After calling 911, he called their father next.

"What's wrong, Keem?" Their father asked worriedly.

"D-Dad. Mom's dead." Rakeem sniffled. "She's been dead for a while because she's cold. She took a bottle of pills. I called an ambulance."

"I'm on my way, son." Rakeem could hear his father's voice cracking before he hung up the phone.

Walking back to Cherish's room while waiting for the ambulance and their father, he found her humming while playing with a doll. He wanted to be strong for her, but couldn't. They both loved their parents with all their hearts, so he didn't know why she did what she did.

"Keem? Why are you crying? Did mommy say no to ice cream?" She stood up and walked over to him.

"She didn't say anything..." Rakeem paused. "Mom is gone." He sniffled. He knew his father could've been the one to tell her, but he wanted to.